School

Monday is my first day of the new school year with students. I have spent the last week preparing. The preparation was fun!
I got to unpack all my neato, art supplies that I will be using this next year, plus play around with some of the 'new for me' stuff. (did you know that crayola has come out with some metallic oil pastels that are designed to not roll off the table?)
The school also offered an insightful continuing education series on behavior modification and teaching. It basically uncovered a huge flaw in the whole approach. While BM (don't you love those initials?) can create immediate results, used alone it does nothing to change ultimate heart issues and therefore fails. Once the external structure is removed ( and who can sustain it forever?) the child returns to the previous behavior because their heart is not changed. The BM manipulation technique is very effective in dealing with cattle and dogs but limited in dealing with children. In dealing with older children, it can be downright harmful. It can even create a cynical atmosphere infused with the miasma of anger. The manipulator sets himself up as supremo environment controller and behavior evaluator. The object of his BM technique, the spiritual child, (who feels manipulated) may then set their intellect to trumping or manipulating the manipulator....interesting stuff. BM was really pushed during the ancient days of my education, is it still being trumpeted as louldly?
My favorite BM technique was strong on carrot, weak on stick... To get my excited, talking students to quiet down and focus on their art I would have them play the quiet game. All who remained quiet would get a lifesaver, the talking ones would not get one -plus they have the ignominy of losing the game. It really will motivate those second graders for about a month, then some of them start to think that missing that lifesaver wouldn't be as bad as missing their conversation...or they will just bring their own candy and who needs yours anyway? There were a few, however, that learned being quiet and focused was the first step of entering that wonderful creative zone where time disappears and the joy of making happens. Maybe I will keep that quiet game after all...just have as my focus the creativity of the spiritual child who really needs his heart changed, not just the behavior.